Hungary Local Govt

8/2/2019 Hungary Local Govt

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Zsolt Nyiri

University of Connecticut

341 Mansfield Road

U-24, Room 137

Storrs, CT 06269-1024USAFax: (413) 425-7712

E-mail: [email protected]

DECENTRALIZATION AND GOOD GOVERNANCE:

TEN YEARS OF HUNGARIAN EXPERIENCE


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SECTION I.

Introduction

The purpose of this paper is to analyze and assess the benefits of decentralization of public

administration in Hungary during the past ten years of democratic transition. While many identifydemocratic local government as a prerequisite to democracy, this is usually taken as an act offaith. There is a lack of research done in explaining how and what kind of decentralization actually

contributes to democratic development. This research explores the hypothesis that the quality of

decentralization is connected to development through improving governance.

The research draws many lessons from earlier findings on public management in variouscountries ranging from the United States of America to Third World countries and examines to

what extent those are applicable to the new wave of development, e. g., post-communist societies of

Eastern and Central Europe.Good governance is essential in all settings, however, for transitional countries it is crucial

to sustain democracy. In order to show the role decentralization plays in democratization, first a

theoretical discussion of the benefits of the various forms of decentralization such asdeconcentration, devolution, and delegation will be presented. The often stated research hypothesis

that establishes a positive link between good governance and decentralization is applied to the case

of Hungary as is a method of evaluating the degree or quality of decentralization.

The Impact of Decentralization on Good Governance

Decentralization is identified by many as a crucial factor contributing to good governance.

The hypothesis by Richard Vengroff and H. Ben Salem claims that the relationship between

successful decentralization and good governance is quite high.1 Jerry VanSant also identifiesdecentralization as an important institutional setting to improve governance in developing nations.2

The hypothetical positive relationship between decentralization and good governance is supportedby observations in Africa, where nations with the best long term records of democratic

governance also have for extended periods been involved in serious experimentation . . . with theimplementation of various forms of decentralization.3

Robert Charlick explains the relationship between governance and decentralization as a way

of the state providing multiple centers of participation in decision-making that in turn assures bettermanagement, responsiveness, and accountability which are basic features of good governance.4

There seems to be an agreement on the crucial role decentralization plays in democracies,

nevertheless, almost all of the authors point out that decentralization only works when it is takenseriously by political decision makers. According to VanSant decentralization itself is no

guarantee of good governance nor of access by citizens, especially the poor, to basic services.

Stewardship, VanSant goes on, requires decentralization that goes beyond administrative and

1 Richard Vengroff and H. Ben Salem, Assessing the Impact of Decentralization on

Governance: a Comparative Methodological Approach and Application to Tunisia inPublic Admin. & Dev. V.12,

1992, pp. 473-492

2 Jerry VanSant, Governance as Stewardship, (SICA Occasional Paper Series, 1997).

3 Richard Vengroff,Decentralization in Africa: A Review of the Experience

in Rural Development, AID commissioned Concept Paper, 1994, 8.4 Robert Charlick, The Concept of Governance and its Implications for A.I.D. Development Assistance

Program in Africa, Washington D.C.: ARD, 1992. 16.


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financial measures to a dimension of political power sharing that enhances civil society. 5 Vengroff

and Ben Salem also point out that while numerous countries have undertaken so-calleddecentralization programmes . . . few have demonstrated the political will necessary for successful

implementation.6

The literature on development management indicates that the success of decentralization

depends less on the formal rhetoric used by politicians but rather on the real quality ofdecentralization, e.g., the degree to which decentralized units take part in actual political decision

making.

Governance

While achieving good governance in less developed countries became a number one priority

for international aid agencies, it is not easy to define what it really is. Pierre Landell-Mills and

Ismall Serageldin note that the concept of good governance is a highly complex one and issurrounded by intense controversy.7 There has been a shift in focus of development programs in

the past years. Foreign aid is more concentrated on the complex issue of governance than ever

before. Traditionally, development seemed a more easily surmountableand largely technicalchallenge.8New projects address the issue of development from a multifaceted point of view,aiming at building good governance rather than improving the technical-physical aspects of state

administration.

For the sake of development management, governance can be best defined as the:impartial, transparent management of public affairs through the generation of a regime (set

of rules) accepted as constituting legitimate authority, for the purpose of promoting and

enhancing societal values that are sought by individuals and groups.9

Building good governance is important everywhere but plays an even more substantial role

in development management because it is ultimately the use of political authority and exercise of

control . . . for social and economic development.10 Governance has a political and a technicaldimension. The two are interrelated. Landell-Mills and Serageldin define certain aspects such as

genuine political commitment as the political dimension and efficient public administration as the

technical dimensions of governance. None can exist without the other.Besides defining this complex concept, measuring it is even more difficult. Richard Vengroff

and H. Ben Salem suggest six factors upon which the quality of governance depends on:

1. Transparency of budgeting;2. Access to and opportunities for participation;

3. Public initiatives;

4. Government responsiveness to populace and/or elected representatives;5. Free flow of ideas and information;

6. Regular and open procedure for selecting leaders.11

5 Ibid, 2.

6 Vengroff and Ben Salem, 475.

7 The World Bank, Governance and Development, Washington, D.C:

The World Bank, 1992.

8 World Bank, World Development Report(New York: Oxford University Press), 1997, 1.

9 R. Charlick, Governance Working Paper(Washington, Associates in Rural Development), 1992, 2.

10 P. Landell-Mills and I. Serageldin, Governance and the External Factor(Washington: World BankAnnual Conference), 1991, 3.

11 Richard Vengroff and H. Ben Salem, 474.

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Measuring governance is necessary to judge democratic development, however, one has to be

aware that it is almost impossible to reduce the complex institutional, social, cultural, political,economic, legal, and other realities of the web interactions that makes up a modern society and

polity into a single measurement of good governance.12 Thus, the special features of a given

country has to be considered and judgmental approaches are inescapable.

Decentralization General Overview

Many scholars claim that decentralization of political power is one of the most remarkable

features of such developed societies as the United States of America.13 The power of local forces in

politics unknown in Europe was noted by Alexis de Tocqueville, one of the earliest examiners ofAmerican democracy. He wrote that "nothing is more striking to a European traveler in the United

States than the absence of what we term the government, or the Administration."14 Richard Stillman

calls this the stateless origin of American government. The decentralization in America is rootedin their early political culture . . . characterized by strong traditions of loyalty to local interests. 15

Decentralization played a major role in other societies. Recently, Spain has a good

experience with decentralization and democratization. Despite having no formal framework, afterthe 1970s decentralisation has proven to be the most innovative institutional feature in democraticSpain.16

The rationale for decentralization is manifold. One type of reasoning uses normative and

inherent arguments to defend decentralization, the most important being the idea of citizenparticipation. In a decentralized political system citizens have more opportunities to participate in

political decision-making since the whole process of policy making is broken down to smaller

units. Elazar points out that in a federalist system the political distance between the governed andthose who govern is relatively small.17 A decentralized state apparatus therefore provides more

access and control over the bureaucracy for its citizens than a centralized one. Thus, it makes

democracy and participation a reality. Another normative-inherent benefit of decentralization in

public administration is that it, instead of forcing a unified way of life, it recognizes the autonomyof the grass roots. The grass roots level of politics, that is the view and interest of the local people,

is not regarded as a less important factor in decentralized systems. Rather, it is crucial to convince

them to voluntarily accept central decision and also to incorporate micro-level interests at themacro-level of politics.

In addition to the normative-inherent ideas behind administrative decentralization, there

exist an instrumental line of argumentation that concerns the organizational outcome ofdecentralization. These ideas claim that decentralization facilitates the performance of specialized

12 The World Bank, Governance, 5.

13 William H. Riker,Federalism: Origin, Operation, Significance (Boston: Little, Brown, and Company,

1964); Michael D. Reagan and John G. Sanzone, The New Federalism (New York: Oxford University Press, 1972);

Parris N. Glendening and Mavis Mann Reeves. Pragmatic Federalism: An Intergovernmental View of AmericanGovernment(California: Palisades Publishers, 1977); Paul E. Peterson, Barry G. Rabe, and Kenneth K. Wong. When

Federalism Works (Washington: The Brookings Institution, 1986).

14 Richard J. Stillman II,Preface to Public Administration : A Search for Themes and Direction (New York:

St. Martins Press, 1991), 19.

15 Mark O. Rousseau and Raphael Zariski,Regionalism and Regional Devolution in Comparative

Perspective (New York: Praeger, 1987), 26.

16 Joseph M. Colomer. The Spanish State of Autonomies: Non-Institutional Federalism in West

European Politics, Oct 1998 v21 i4., 40.

17 Rousseau and Zariski, 18.


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functional tasks by utilizing local resources and services (thus relieving the pressure on the central

government) and by enlisting the cooperation and support of local authorities.18 Fully centralizedadministrative systems are prone to system breakdowns. Crozier and Dahl proved that centralized

public administration requires the transmission of such an amount of information that no

communication system is able to handle.19 Speed and cost increases while quality of information

decreases if decisions must go through the center all the time. In addition to this, a strong system ofsubnational governments can prevent the abuse of power on behalf of the central government.

Thomas Jefferson saw local governments as the bulwark against tyranny and corruption comingfrom the top.

Figure 1 Arguments in Favor of Decentralization of Political Power

NORMATIVE/INHERENT

ARGUMENTS

INSTRUMENTAL ARGUMENTS

Increased citizen participation in publicaffairs

Greater efficiency and effectivity of the

management of public affairs

Minority rights protection against majorityrule

Prevents system overload and breakdowns

Increases the acceptance of grass rootsdiversity such as local customs and

traditions

Prevents abuse of central government,

bulwark against tyranny

Decentralization of post-communist governments coincided with decentralization of many

unitary democratic governments such as Great Britain, Sweden, or France in Europe. It wasunderstood by many European experts that decentralization of decision-making and control to

units and subunits (with appropriate systems and instruments) is generally seen as an important way

of improving the performance of the civil service.20Different sources from Western Europemention decentralization unanimously as one of the most important structural elements in designing

and redesigning modern public organizations--and this concerns not only post-communist

administrations but also their very own unitary systems:21

18 Ibid., 22.

19 Robert A. Dahl,Dilemmas of Pluralist Democracy (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1982), 103.20 Norman Flynn and Franz Strehl eds.,Public Sector Management in Europe (London: Prentice Hall, 1996),

263.

21 It should be noted, however, that decentralization in itself is not a panacea that cures all organizational

malfunctions. Authority must be carefully distributed and not in a haphazard way. Decentralization needs a lot of

preparation in advance that includes clear functional, procedural, and monitoring goals to name but a few. It is also

often misunderstood that setting policy goals from the top constitutes centralization automatically. Centralization is

notpolicy direction from the top, hierarchically established goals, and central control procedures. These are thecharacteristics ofallwell-managed organizations. Fred Thompson, Management Control and the Pentagon: The

Organizational Strategy-Structure Mismatch,Public Administration Review 51 (1991): 52-65, 53.

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The . . . basic rule is that organization should be as decentralized as possible. It has been

demonstrated that to the satisfaction of most students of management that the effectivenessof large, complex organizations improves when authority is delegated down into the

organization along with responsibility.22

Decentralization and Development

Decentralization played a major role in the democratic development of many Western

societies from the United States to Spain. These governments also tend to have a high quality of

governance. Achieving a good quality governance in developing nations seems to be the new goalof donor agencies. However, the means of achieving it is a difficult task. As it was discussed

earlier, decentralization is identified by many as a crucial factor contributing to good governance.

Nevertheless, the role of decentralization in development is complex: it is an agent of change aswell as a target of it. As Vengroff notes underdevelopment is both one of the problems that

decentralization is supposed to address and a contributing factor to the difficulties and failures of

decentralization programs.

23

Decentralization throughout this paper is defined in accordance with US foreign aidprograms as a transfer of responsibility for planning, management, and resource raising and

allocation from central government and its agencies to: (a) field units of central government

ministries or agencies, (b) subordinate units or levels of government, (c) semi-autonomous publicauthorities or corporations, (d) area wide, regional or functional authorities, or (e) non-

governmental private or voluntary organizations.24

Accordingly, the basic types of decentralization are the following:1. Deconcentration;

2. Delegation;

3. Devolution;

4. Privatization.Decentralization has often been a rhetoric and not a reality. Announcing decentralization did

not only brought in foreign aid but it also pacified internal opposition. However, action rarely

followed rhetoric. Today, one can see that it nearly impossible to judge decentralization solelyrelying on political documents. Stemming from his experience with African decentralization,

Vengroff writes:

Findings on the impact of decentralization in developing countries have been quite mixed.Much of the inconsistency can be attributed to the fact that the correlation between

formally announced programs of decentralization and a serious and successful effort at

its implementation is quite low, or in some cases nonexistent.25Based on the literature we may easily conclude that there are two major problems with

decentralization programs. The first being that while there is a rhetoric of decentralization, what

22 Thompson. But see also: Mayer N. Zald, Decentralization--Myth Vs. Reality,Personnel41 (1964): 19-

26; and Richard von Vancil,Decentralization: Management Ambiguity by Design (Homewood: How Jones Irwin,

1979).

23 Richard Vengroff, Decentralization in Africa: A Review of the Experience

in Rural Development, AID commissioned Concept Paper, 1994, 5.

24 D. Rondelli et al. Decentralization in Developing Countries World Bank Staff Working Paper

(Washington: World Bank), 1984.

25 Vengroff, 5.


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actually happens is centralization. Many countries believed in just the opposite of decentralization,

i.e., it is the centralization of power that will achieve political integration and development. 26

Secondly, even when decentralization was implemented, it rarely meant more than deconcentration

or delegation. Real decentralization in the forms of devolution and privatization promotes good

governance.27

Hungary, clearly, does not fall into the first category. After the collapse of communism,there was not only a rhetoric of decentralization but real efforts were made to implement some

forms of it. Still, the efforts remained largely at the level of deconcentration and delegation whilereal devolution of power to the local level only happened half-heartedly, especially with issues

concerning finance. Spain, in contrast, implemented a high rate of political and financial

decentralization that led to territorial pluralism with an impressive division of power. Quite

interestinglyand proving how formal framework and reality often do not match, the actualdecentralization was deeper than its constitutional mandate in Spain. The Spanish decentralization

is more of a result of real politics than official state rhetoric or constitutional issues.

SECTION II.

The Hypothesis and Method of Measurement

A major problem with study of decentralization is a technical one. Decentralization and

good governance are complex issues. Official programs and accounts do not always fit realachievements. Therefore, we must first establish criteria in the form of empirically verifiable

indicators of the seriousness or quality of decentralization programs.28 The research on Hungary is

based on the approach proposed by Vengroff and Ben Salem. The two authors suggest that

regardless of political propaganda, decentralization should be measured and evaluated on arelatively straightforward scale. In order to do so, I judge the quality of decentralization as a

function of three important factors: scope, intensity, and commitment:

D= I (S, I, C)

Where:D: decentralization, S: scope, I: intensity, C: commitment.

Scope is measured by geographical coverage (limited or country wide), population (some groups orthe whole population), substantive areas of concern (broadness of subjects decentralized units can

address).

Intensity is measured by type of decentralization (pure or mixed), personnel coverage (size of civil

service under decentralized authority), budgetary implications (what percentage of national budgetallocation supports lower level administration).

Commitment is the support for decentralization by the central power that is operationalized by:

legal structure, endurance, personnel quality, finance, elected officials, official endorsements,participation.

Moreover, the paper relies on a case analysis approach that was suggested by Harris.29

Decentralization in Hungary is shown in its post-communist democratization context.

26 See more about the African experience in Vengroff, 5.

27 See Diana Conyers. Decentralisation: the Latest Fashion in Development Adminsitration, inPublic

Administration and Development, 1983, Vol. 3, 97-109. Or James Wunsch and Dele Olowu eds., The Failure of the

Centralized State. Boulder: Westview, 1990.

28 Vengroff, 23.29 Richard Harris. Decentralization and the Strengthening of Local Government, inDecentralization and

Development Review, 1981, No.2.

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Hypothesis

The general hypothesis claims that there is a positive relationship between good governanceand decentralization. As decentralization grows the quality of governance improves.

My hypothesis is that in Hungary, just like in many other post-communist countries of

Central and Eastern Europe, decentralization had been announced as a major political program but

due to various constraints there was a lack of central commitment to it. The relative unsuccess ofpost-communist governance may in fact originate in half-hearted decentralization. Decentralization

serves as a special remedy for post-communist societies: if extreme central control of the economy

and politics is attributed to the failure of communist governance, decentralization should be theobvious treatment.

The hypothesis in this particular case therefore claims that there is a relationship between

real commitment to decentralization and successful governance. As a first step, we need to measureand evaluate real commitment to decentralization. The hypothesized relationship is positive: the

higher the real commitment to decentralization is in a country the better governance we expect.

Accordingly, the null hypothesis claims that there is no relationship between the quality ofdecentralization and governance.

SECTION III.

Decentralization, Deconcentration, and Delegation in Post-Communist Hungary-- ACase Study

Decentralization gained a lot of publicity and was part of the political agenda in most

transitional countries of the former socialist bloc. It was a way to generate public support for thenew regime. The early results in Hungary are very impressive: during the period between 1990 (the

Act of Local Self-Government) and 1997 much has been established in terms of administrative

transition and Hungary created 1949 new municipalities by 1991. This is a remarkable achievement

towards decentralization, during the same time in Poland only 36, in Slovakia 566, and in the CzechRepublic 1664 new municipalities were created. (See Figure 4.) Decentralization indicated a

political will of departure from the centrally controlled socialist regimes. Nevertheless, making

decentralized units work proved to be a more difficult task than it was imagined.The Central and Eastern European experience with decentralization fits nicely into both

VanSant and Vengroffs common pitfall theory, e.g., less than necessary political commitment to

implementing decentralization, especially to devolution, ruins its positive effects.One of the active participants of Polish decentralization, Joanna Regulska, Minister of

Government in Poland (1985-1991) who was responsible for local government reform in her

country, identifies half-hearted decentralization as one of the main problem areas that contemporaryEast and Central European public administration faces:

After the initial proclamation of decentralization, it has become apparent that defacto deconcentration rather than decentralization is taking place (the former understoodas change only in form, and the latter as actual devolution of power to local level). A power

struggle emerged between a central level accustomed to full control (strongly supported by

existing legislation and an extensive bureaucracy), and newly elected local government

officials equipped only with fragile and incomplete legislation. The signs thatdeconcentration is taking place have included the creation, by the central level, of new

institutions at the regional and local level (i.e. increased tendencies by individual ministries


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and branches of central government to establish their own branch offices at the lower level,

as opposed to building self-government representation from the bottom up); fulfillment oftasks by local government under supervision of the central state; increased fiscal control of

resources by the central level; delegation of new responsibilities to local government

without allocation of appropriate financial resources to fulfill them; legislative provisions

indication that central decisions are of higher order.

30

Figure 2. The Number of Municipalities in Selected Countries of Central Europe in 1988 and

199131

30 Robert J. Bennett,Local Government in the New Europe (London: Belhaven Press, 1993), 187.31 Source: Harald Baldersheim et al., eds.Local Democracy and the Processes of Transformation in East-

Central Europe. Boulder: Westview Press, 1996, 25.

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Hungary Poland Slovakia

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

Hungary Poland Slovakia

1988

1991

The Myth of Deconcentration in Eastern Europe

Deconcentration, in many cases, can be seen as more of a necessity of governance than a

real sharing of the power among the different levels. Historically, deconcentration, the weakestform of decentralization has appeared in many cases and forms. Most of the times, certain forms of

weak decentralization worked well in basically centralized systems. Even the socialist governmenthad different levels of government. Although there existed a county level, it was mostly used as a

transmission belt between central and local governments carrying out the decisions of the former.

Central governments are always forced to distribute power and authority to subnational tiers

of government. Pragmatically, writes Calvert, the power of government needs always to bedistributed among a number of individuals if the business of government is to be carried on.32 This

is not only the feature of modern democracies but seems to be present in early historical times:

even the despot will need to vest authority in others if his position is to be sustained; he cannotpersonally collect all the taxes, punish all the criminals and, single-handed, wage a foreign war. In

all but the very smallest and simplest polities, then, authority needs to be distributed.33

Decentralization is therefore a common feature of most governments.A necessary feature of all governments often became a rhetoric of democratization of

former authoritarian and totalitarian systems. Deconcentration was often identified as

democratization. While it is clearly an aspect of it, decentralization in the form of deconcentration

is not a satisfying substitute to real devolution of central authority and good governance.

32 Harry Calvert ed.,Devolution (London: Professional Books, 1975), 5.

33 Ibid.


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Beyond Functions

Devolution is the creation or strengthening of sub-national units of government where thelocal units of government are autonomous and independent. In this respect, not even the legally

mandated functions of local governments can really determine whether real decentralization have

taken place:

For local government to have or fulfil a service, or part of it, means little more than thatlocal authorities have formal responsibility for employing people to carry it out. It does not

necessarily mean that they can influence the way in which it is carried out because theymay have little discretion to do so.34

For example, as Erskine notes, British local authorities may have responsibility for administering

income maintenance payments using housing benefits but they have little authority over the

distribution of those benefits since those are nationally regulated.35 While local governmentresponsibilities are widely used as an indicator of the decentralization, Page and Goldsmith claims

that it is clearly inadequate since the ability to make significant decisions affecting a function is

not identical with formal responsibility for it.36Charlick notes that the mere existence of local governments, or of non-governmental

institutions, or the acceptance of right to exist, may be an important first step in sharing governmentfunctions, but is hardly a sufficient one. Policy pluralism implies that these publics can participate

in defining and managing policy.37Instead of functions, Page and Goldsmith propose discretion as the main way of deciding

over whether local governments play a role or not in governance. Discretion describes the power

local actors have in deciding over the type and level of services they deliver. There are fourcomponents of discretion:38

1. General legal framework in which local governments exist. The Scandinavian model is that

local authorities have a general competence to undertake services. In the British model, localgovernments need to find a specific statutory basis for their actions.

2. Degree of discretion in the number of local services. Some of the services are mandated, others

are under the permissive powers of local authorities. This category includes how muchconstraints localities encounter in the forms of central standards with regard to the services they

need to deliver.

3. Non-legal forms of influence: non-authoritative government advice or circulars may have

binding power on localities. Non-compliance to central circulars may end up in legal orfinancial penalties.

4. Financial discretion at the local level is critical. In a system where central government money

transfers account for most of the local government income, independence is difficult to achieve.Real decentralization can be measured along local governments powers in generating

independent revenues such as local taxes, service fees, and charges. See Figure 5 for the

composition of local government income in Hungary after democratic changes took place.

The points made by Page and Goldsmith show that evaluating decentralization goes beyond theformal structures. Real access to decision-making and revenues are the crucial fountains of local

34 Edward C. Page and Michael J. Goldsmith eds. Central and Local Government Relations (London: Sage,

1987), 5.

35 See more detail in A. Erskine. Housing Benefits: Some Preliminary Comments in Critical Social

Policy. 1984, 9:99-105.

36 Page, 5.37 Charlick, 16.

38 Page, 5-7.

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governance and true decentralization.

While the central government puts more and more responsibilities in terms of providing servicesto local governments, the financial subsidies assigned by the Hungarian parliament to local

governments are decreasing and fail to cover the costs of maintaining the mandatory public

services.39

The decrease in financial resources of local governments can be explained by three majorreasons claims Gbor Demszky, the Mayor of Budapest:

central subsidy cannot follow economic recession and inflation,

without expanding financial resources, central government assigns more and more roles to local

governments,

deficit of the central budget forces the government to dump more burden on localities. 40

The central government encourages (and creates an environment that forces) local governments tolevy more local taxes and engage in profit seeking economic enterprises to earn money for their

own expenses. The general lack of affluence, especially in rural areas, constrains the level of taxes

local governments can levy. This compels local authorities to use central government funding evenfor accomplishing basic public services which, understandably, makes local independence difficult

to achieve and maintains the central government's leading role in decision-making. On the otherhand, local governments are also suffering from the problems of privatization. Privatizing is adesirable part of the process of democratization but it may negatively affect local governments by

draining their property in real estates. It is still unclear which properties belong to the local

authorities and what has to be privatized for money or just simply to give back to the previous

owners.The money coming from renting buildings owned by local governments has been a majorsource of income at the local level.

Figure 3. Local Governments and Their Competence According to the Local Self-

Government Act of 1990

Local Governments Mandatory Tasks are to Provide:

drinking water

primary education

basic health services

basic social services

local roads

public lighting

public cemeteries national and ethnic minorities rights

Although even the deconcentration of governmental functions and services has many

39 Bennett,Local Government, 87.40 Demszky Gbor, Arbitrary Innovation in Finanacing the Self-Governments,Magyar Kzigazgats 10

(1997): 577-579.


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advantages over centralization because it emphasizes the relative autonomy of the subordinate units

by giving them freedom to act within their mandates, it does not fundamentally change the structureof power in decision-making. Deconcentration, eventually, does not solve the problems of

centralization.41Administrative decentralization actually consists of four different, although

interrelated concepts according to Jong S. Jun and Deil S. Wright:

1) the deconcentration of administrative functions;2) the devolution of decision-making authority;

3) localized program innovation; and4) citizen participation in the policy process.42

Judging by this standard, Hungary has mixed results with the different aspects of

decentralization. The central government created many deconcentrated units in the country but the

domain of power and authority, viz., point (2), of those agencies is still limited. The third criticalpoint is the issue of local program innovation that is very rarely the case in quasi-decentralized

systems. Since the grants needed to carry out local projects are awarded by the central government

as well as deconcentrated units are closely supervised by the center, local programs (even if theyare designed by municipalities) must eventually be approved by the central government. Jun and

Wright, along the lines of Vengroffs commitment-participation measurement, found it important

that together with decentralization there is also a need that local citizens should actively participatein the policy process via having seats on advisory boards, participating on public hearings and

meetings, and voting in local political elections. There was a relatively low turnout for local

elections by the citizens compared to parliamentary elections during the elections in 1990 and 1994in Hungary. Decentralization of power is practically meaningless if it is not accompanied by more

citizen participation. This is clearly the case if we take a look at voter turnouts for the first two

democratic elections in Hungary at the parliamentary and local levels. (See Figure 4.)

Figure 4. Participation in Local and Parliamentary Elections, 1990/199443

41 See Brian C. Smith on the same question: decentralization may be clearly distinguished from the dispersal

of headquarters branches from the capital city. . . . [and also] from delegation, when superior entrusts a subordinate

with some of the formers responsibilities. Brian C. Smith,Decentralization: The Territorial Dimension of the State

(London: George Allen & Unwin, 1985), 1.

42 Jong S. Jun and Deil S. Wright, eds., Globalization and Decentralization (Washington: GeorgetownUniversity Press, 1996), 5.

43 There was no second round for local elections in 1994.

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1990 1994

0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%

70.00%

1990 1994

First round

Parliamentary elections

Local elections


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1990 1994

0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%

1990 1994

Second round

Parliamentary elections

Local elections

15


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Figure 5. Local Government Income in Percentage in Hungary after Democratic Changes

Took Place 44

44 Source: Bennett,Local Government and Market, 88.


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State

subsidies

Local

resources

Social

security

transfer

Share from

central

taxes

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

State

subsidies

Local

resources

Social

security

transfer

Share from

central

taxes

17


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SECTION IV.

Third and Second World Development

Decentralization in Hungary nicely fits into the theoretical framework described bydevelopment management literature. While deconcentration and devolution is an achievement initself compared to centralized public administration, it is hardly enough for good governance. The

good thing is that accepting Vengroffs point that decentralization is an evolutionary rather than a

revolutionary process, Hungary is on the right track.45The process of decentralization has started

and there has been major achievements already. Still, deconcentration and devolution will not makeup for localized decision-making in the long run. Hungary is on the right track but it needs more

depth in decentralization to achieve better governance.

Using the three factor quality indicator of decentralization, Hungary has fairly high score insome respects and some weaknesses in others.

The scope of decentralization is very high when measured by covering population and

geography of the nation. Local governments were established everywhere after the Local Self-Government Act of 1990 came into power. The Act set no specific limitations on communities to

create local government. According to the new Act, self-governance is a collective citizenship right.

Some would even say that Hungary overdid geographical decentralization: after theadministrative decentralization of the local governments, 1,508 new local governments were

created in addition to the previous 1,584 which adds up to 3,092 municipalities altogether.

This may look like a little bit too numerous in a country of 10 million . Most of the newlycreated local governments belong to very small villages which often find it difficult to fulfill their

mandatory tasks and to make effective use of their scope of discretion.46 Their autonomy is unrealsince they depend on state subsidies as fifty-five per cent of local expenditures comes from the

state.

With regard to personnel, most of the public administrators work in the state and centraloffices combined. They also employ a larger number of staff. These are not too prestigious jobs

with serious problems concerning low salaries that fail to attract or keep the best employees. Even

at the central level, the best qualified public managers left the public sector for private companies.Thus, a relatively strong private sector in Hungary drives the best workers out of public

administration to areas where their talent is better paid. This at least proves that the skills of public

administrators in Hungary (especially of those with strong background in economics and law) are

good and well needed.

Intensity: Hungary tried various types of decentralization. Deconcentrated state organs

flourish all over the country. Also, local governments enjoy a high degree of legal autonomy and

they grew astronomically after the political changes. Yet, functions and legal autonomy have not

been accompanied by necessary means. Moreover, a liberal distribution of tasks accompanied withlack of resources are causing a clash among deconcentrated units, local governments, and the state.

At the moment, it is undecided what is considered to be a local or state issue. 47In order to clearup functions and roles, there is a need for a more straightforward legal framework. This is

especially true for the unsettled role of meso-level administration such as county self-governments.

45 Vengroff, 7.46 Hesse,Administrative Transformation, 85.

47 Zoltan Agg, ed.,A lebego megye (The floating county) (Veszprem: Comitatus, 1994), 20.


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Figure 6. Public Administration Personnel at the Different Levels of Government in Hungary,1991/199248

48 Source: Hesse,Administrative Transformation, 78

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0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

40,000

45,000

Central administration

State offices

Local governments


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Commitment refers to the level and quality of support for decentralization by political forces.Generally, local governments were identified as important parts of post-communist Hungarian

democracy. Still, the priority of the central government has been maintained. This is partly due to

the fact that Hungary is a unitary state with no constitutional guarantees of multiple authority of

sub-national levels. The other reason is more practical. Imre Vereblyi, the former AdministrativeState Secretary in the Ministry of Interior of Hungary, claims that the central government continues

to be the major actor in public administration due to many, hopefully temporary, reasons:The reasons include weak self-organizational mechanisms and the need to administer the

transfer of a vast amount of state assets; to settle compensation claims; to deal with the

flood of refugees into Hungary; to combat an increasing crime rate; and to come to termswith the consequences of a civil war on Hungary's border.49

Clearly, newly established local governments cannot be held responsible to fight such issues as the

spillover effect of the civil war in former Yugoslavia or the privatization of the state properties.

There is a need for central government activity at the local level in some special cases: poor regionsor border communities with Yugoslavia.

While many functions were mandated to the local governments, they can rarely make major

decisions. Hungary has a history of regulating public administration mainly through the legislature.Hungarian Parliament still plays a central role in public administration that does not only prevent

localities from autonomous decision-making but also puts a heavy burden on the Parliament itself.

The national Parliament that has absolute legislative powers in Hungary and it is:faced with a situation in which it has to pass approximately one hundred new acts annually;

this leaves, on average, only six hours to discuss an act, including presentations by

committees and ministers. Such haste in legislation no longer really serve the interests of

the constitutional state, but devalues its effectiveness by reducing the standard oflegislation.50

More authority in decision making power at the local level as well as less state regulations would

enhance the work of local governments as well as lessen the burden of the central government.Financing local governments cannot be done by an increase in local taxation. More local

taxing would probably work in the most affluent western regions and in the capital but would

definitely decrease resources at the impoverished rural regions of the country. Functionallypowerful local governments are often paralyzed by lack of resources and central regulations.

49 Ibid., 118.

50 Hesse,Administrative Transformation, 77.

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SECTION V.

Conclusion

The analysis of bureaucratic decentralization in post-communist Hungary proves thatdecentralization is and has been identified as a major component of democratization and good

governance. The success in promoting good governance is varied. On the one hand, the quality ofgovernance does not meet the expectation of the people. The post-communist euphoria that Western

style governance and quality of life style can be achieved through a few structural changes such as

regular elections or multi party system proved to be unfounded. It takes more years and deeperinstitutional changes to build a high quality governance found in Western democracies.

On the other hand, Hungary did indeed launch an impressive program of administrative

change that brought an update in the quality of governance. Local elections are taken seriously andpeople do participate in local governance. A recent survey carried out by Baldersheim et al. shows

that fifty-eight per cent of the respondents in Hungarian villages and forty-eight per cent living in

towns believe that they can influence more than before how the municipality is run.51

The trust inlocal administrative bodies grew compared to their ex-socialist counterparts. Another poll carried

out by a Hungarian polling institution (Marketing Centrum Orszagos Piackutato Intezet) between

11 and 21 of October 1996 gives hope for further changes at the local level. The national survey on

local governments had a sample of 8,000 citizens living in Budapest and thirteen towns around thecountry. The questionnaire measured citizens attitudes towards local- and national-level political

institutions. According to the surveys findings, the prestige of local governments and their

perceived role in the stabilization of the new Hungarian democracy is higher than those of thecentral government.52

Most of Hungarys problems with decentralization either stem from the relatively weak

general economic performance of post-communist countries, i.e., there is a lack of financial

resources both at the central and local level. The other types of problems originate in the heritage ofthe unitary political system: strong centralization of the policy making in the national parliament

and the need for central coordination of such issues as privatization or the rebuilding of public

administration.Accordingly, the recommendations for the country are twofold.. Whenever it is feasible,

more financial autonomy should be assigned to successful local governments, especially in richer

regions where local income through taxes are higher. Strong central involvement in local issues isjustified by many, hopefully temporary, reasons in certain cases such as poor regions or transfer of

state property. As transformational issues decrease and economic wealth grows, the role of central

involvement should be re-evaluated on a regular basis.

51 Baldersheim, 76-78.52 Erzsebet J. Kun, Helyben jobban erzi magat a polgar (Citizens feel better locally),Nepszabadsag, 19

December 1996, 4.


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Section VI.

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